Chapter IV (2)

I am going to-morrow, with a guard of fifty men, to Patras in the
Morea, and thence to Athens, where I shall winter. [7] Two days ago I
was nearly lost in a Turkish ship of war, owing to the ignorance of
the captain and crew, though the storm was not violent. Fletcher
yelled after his wife, the Greeks called on all the saints, the
Mussulmans on Alla; the captain burst into tears and ran below deck,
telling us to call on God; the sails were split, the main-yard
shivered, the wind blowing fresh, the night setting in, and all our
chance was to make Corfu, which is in possession of the French, or (as
Fletcher pathetically termed it) "a watery grave." I did what I could
to console Fletcher, but finding him incorrigible, wrapped myself up
in my Albanian capote (an immense cloak), and lay down on deck to wait
the worst. I have learnt to philosophise in my travels; and if I had
not, complaint was useless. Luckily the wind abated, and only drove us
on the coast of Suli, on the main land, where we landed, and
proceeded, by the help of the natives, to Prevesa again; but I shall
not trust Turkish sailors in future, though the Pacha had ordered one
of his own galliots to take me to Patras. I am therefore going as far
as Missolonghi by land, and there have only to cross a small gulf to
get to Patras.

Fletcher's next epistle will be full of marvels. We were one night
lost for nine hours in the mountains in a thunder-storm, and since
nearly wrecked. In both cases Fletcher was sorely bewildered, from
apprehensions of famine and banditti in the first, and drowning in the
second instance. His eyes were a little hurt by the lightning, or
crying (I don't know which), but are now recovered. When you write,
address to me at Mr. Strané's, English consul, Patras, Morea.

I could tell you I know not how many incidents that I think would
amuse you, but they crowd on my mind as much as they would swell my
paper, and I can neither arrange them in the one, nor put them down on
the other, except in the greatest confusion. I like the Albanians
much; they are not all Turks; some tribes are Christians. But their
religion makes little difference in their manner or conduct. They are
esteemed the best troops in the Turkish service. I lived on my route,
two days at once, and three days again, in a barrack at Salora, and
never found soldiers so tolerable, though I have been in the garrisons
of Gibraltar and Malta, and seen Spanish, French, Sicilian, and
British troops in abundance. I have had nothing stolen, and was always
welcome to their provision and milk. Not a week ago an Albanian chief,
(every village has its chief, who is called Primate,) after helping us
out of the Turkish galley in her distress, feeding us, and lodging my
suite, consisting of Fletcher, a Greek, two Athenians, a Greek priest,
and my companion, Mr. Hobhouse, refused any compensation but a written
paper stating that I was well received; and when I pressed him to
accept a few sequins, "No," he replied; "I wish you to love me, not to
pay me." These are his words.

It is astonishing how far money goes in this country. While I was in
the capital I had nothing to pay by the vizier's order; but since,
though I have generally had sixteen horses, and generally six or seven
men, the expense has not been _half_ as much as staying only three
weeks in Malta, though Sir A. Ball, [8] the governor, gave me a house
for nothing, and I had only _one servant_. By the by, I expect Hanson
to remit regularly; for I am not about to stay in this province for
ever. Let him write to me at Mr. Strané's, English consul, Patras. The
fact is, the fertility of the plains is wonderful, and specie is
scarce, which makes this remarkable cheapness. I am going to Athens,
to study modern Greek, which differs much from the ancient, though
radically similar. I have no desire to return to England, nor shall I,
unless compelled by absolute want, and Hanson's neglect; but I shall
not enter into Asia for a year or two, as I have much to see in
Greece, and I may perhaps cross into Africa, at least the Egyptian
part. Fletcher, like all Englishmen, is very much dissatisfied, though
a little reconciled to the Turks by a present of eighty piastres from
the vizier, which, if you consider every thing, and the value of
specie here, is nearly worth ten guineas English. He has suffered
nothing but from cold, heat, and vermin, which those who lie in
cottages and cross mountains in a cold country must undergo, and of
which I have equally partaken with himself; but he is not valiant, and
is afraid of robbers and tempests. I have no one to be remembered to
in England, and wish to hear nothing from it, but that you are well,
and a letter or two on business from Hanson, whom you may tell to
write. I will write when I can, and beg you to believe me,

Your affectionate son,

BYRON.

P.S.--I have some very "magnifiques" Albanian dresses, the only
expensive articles in this country. They cost fifty guineas each, and
have so much gold, they would cost in England two hundred. I have been
introduced to Hussein Bey, [9] and Mahmout Pacha, [9] both little
boys, grandchildren of Ali, at Yanina; they are totally unlike our
lads, have painted complexions like rouged dowagers, large black eyes,
and features perfectly regular. They are the prettiest little animals
I ever saw, and are broken into the court ceremonies already. The
Turkish salute is a slight inclination of the head, with the hand on
the heart; intimates always kiss. Mahmout is ten years old, and hopes
to see me again; we are friends without understanding each other, like
many other folks, though from a different cause. He has given me a
letter to his father in the Morea, to whom I have also letters from
Ali Pacha.

[Footnote 1: Ali Pasha (1741-1822) was born in Albania, at Tepeleni, a town 75 miles north of Janina, of which his father was governor. This "Mahometan Buonaparte," or "Rob Roy of Albania," made himself the supreme ruler of Epirus and Albania, acquired a predominance over the Agas of Thessaly, and pushed his troops to the frontiers of ancient Attica (see Raumer's 'Historisches Taschenbuch,' pp. 87-175). A merciless and unscrupulous tyrant, he was also a fine soldier and a born administrator. Intriguing now with the Porte, now with Buonaparte, now with the English, using the rival despots of the country against each other, hand in glove with the brigands while commanding the police for their suppression, he extended his power by using conflicting interests to aggrandize himself. The Venetian possessions on the eastern shores of the Adriatic, which had passed in 1797 to France, by the treaty of Campo Formio, were wrested from the French by Ali, who defeated General La Salsette (1798) in the plains of Nicopolis, and, with the exception of Parga, seized and held the principal towns in the name of the Sultan. Byron speaks of his "aged venerable face" in 'Childe Harold' (Canto II. stanza lxii.; see also stanza xlvii.), and of the delicacy of his hand in 'Don Juan' (Canto IV. stanza xlv.), and finds in his treatment of "Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro or Scutari (I am not sure which)," the material for stanzas xiv., xv. of Canto II. of 'The Bride of Abydos'. Hobhouse ('Journey through Albania', edit. 1854, vol. i. pp. 96, 97) describes Ali as

"a short man, about five feet five inches in height, and very fat,
though not particularly corpulent. He had a very pleasing face, fair
and round, with blue quick eyes, not at all settled into a Turkish
gravity. His beard was long and white, and such a one as any other
Turk would have been proud of; though he, who was more taken up with
his guests than himself, did not continue looking at it, nor smelling
and stroking it, as is usually the custom of his country-men, to fill
up the pauses of conversation."

Dr. (afterwards Sir Henry) Holland, in his 'Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, and Greece in 1812-13', pp. 125, 126 (1815), gives an account of his first interview with Ali:

"Were I to attempt a description of Ali, I should speak of his face as
large and full; the forehead remarkably broad and open, and traced by
many deep furrows; the eye penetrating, yet not expressive of
ferocity; the nose handsome and well formed; the mouth and lower part
of the face concealed, except when speaking, by his mustachios and the
long beard which flows over his breast. His complexion is somewhat
lighter than that usual among the Turks, and his general appearance
does not indicate more than his actual age ... The neck is short and
thick, the figure corpulent and unwieldy; his stature I had afterwards
the means of ascertaining to be about five feet nine inches. The
general character and expression of the countenance are unquestionably
fine, and the forehead especially is a striking and majestic feature.
Much of the talent of the man may be inferred from his exterior; the
moral qualities, however, may not equally be determined in this way;
and to the casual observation of the stranger I can conceive from my
own experience, that nothing may appear but what is open, placid, and
alluring. Opportunities were afterwards afforded me of looking beneath
this exterior of expression; it is the fire of a stove burning
fiercely under a smooth and polished surface.... The inquiries he made
respecting our journey to Joannina, gave us the opportunity of
complimenting him on the excellent police of his dominions, and the
attention he has paid to his roads. I mentioned to him generally Lord
Byron's poetical description of Albania, the interest it had excited
in England, and Mr. Hobhouse's intended publication of his travels in
the same country. He seemed pleased with these circumstances, and
stated his recollection of Lord Byron."

Dr. Holland brought back to England a letter to Byron from Ali (see Letter to Moore, September 8, 1813).

A further account of Ali, together with a portrait, will be found in Hughes's 'Travels in Sicily, etc.' (pp. 446-449). He again (1813) "asked with much apparent interest respecting Lord Byron." At the close of the Napoleonic struggle, the interest of this country was excited by the resistance of Parga to his arms, especially as, during the late war, the Pargiotes had received the protection of Great Britain. After the fall of Parga (1819), Ali's power roused the jealousy of the Sultan, and it was partly in consequence of his open defiance of the Porte, that insurrections broke out in Wallachia, and that Ypsilanti proclaimed himself the liberator of Greece. The Turkish troops, under Kurchid Pasha, gradually overpowered Ali, and, at the end of 1821, shut him up in his citadel of Janina. In the following January he surrendered, and was at first treated with respect. But on February 5, 1822, Ali was informed that the Sultan demanded his head. His answer was to fire his pistol at the messenger. In the fray that followed he was killed. Another and better account (Walsh's 'Narrative of a Journey from Constantinople to England', p. 62) says that he was stabbed in the back as he was bowing to the departing messenger, who had solemnly assured him of the Sultan's pardon and favour. His head was cut off, sent to Constantinople, and fixed on the grand gate of the Seraglio, with the sentence of death by its side. Recently fresh interest has been aroused in Ali by the publication of Mr. Bain's translation of Maurus Jókai's semi-historical novel 'Janicsárok végnapjai', under the title of 'The Lion of Janina' (1897).]

[Footnote 2: Veli Pasha was the son of Ali by a daughter of Coul Pasha, the governor of Berat, in whose army Ali had served as a young man. He was married (1798) to a daughter of Ibrahim Pasha, who had succeeded Coul Pasha in the pashalik of Berat. The war with Ibrahim, to which Byron alludes, ended in his defeat, and the transference of his pashalik to Ali. Veli, at this time Vizier of the Morea, resided at Tripolizza, when he was visited by Galt, who describes him as sitting

"on a crimson velvet cushion, wrapped in a superb pelisse; on his head
was a vast turban, in his belt a dagger encrusted with jewels, and on
the little finger of his right hand he wore a solitaire which was said
to have cost two thousand five hundred pounds sterling. In his left
hand he held a string of small coral beads, a comboloio which he
twisted backwards and forwards during the greater part of the visit."
"In his manners," says Galt, "I found him free and urbane, with a
considerable tincture of humour and drollery"

('Life of Byron', p. 83). Hobhouse ('Journey through Albania, etc.', vol. i. p. 193) says,

"The Vizier, for he is a Pasha of three tails, is a lively young man;
and besides the Albanian, Greek, and Turkish languages, speaks
Italian--an accomplishment not possessed, I should think, by any other
man of his high rank in Turkey. It is reported that he, as well as his
father, is preparing, in case of the overthrow of the Ottoman power,
to establish an independent sovereignty."

Veli, in his father's struggle with the Sultan, betrayed Prevesa to the Turks. He was executed in 1822, and is buried at the Silivria Gate of Constantinople.

[Footnote 3: For "monastic Zitza," see 'Childe Harold', Canto II. stanza xlviii., and Byron's note.]

[Footnote 4: See 'Lay of the Last Minstrel', canto i.]

[Footnote 5: William Martin Leake (1777-1860) received his commission as second lieutenant in the artillery in 1794, became a captain in 1799, major in 1809, and lieutenant-colonel in 1813. His professional life, up to 1815, was spent abroad, chiefly at Constantinople, in Egypt, or in various parts of European Turkey. In 1808 he had been sent by the British Government with stores of artillery, ammunition, and Congreve rockets, to Ali, Pasha of Albania, and he remained at Preveza, or Janina, as the representative of Great Britain, till 1810. During his travels he collected the vases, gems, bronzes, marbles, and coins now placed in the British Museum, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. At the same time, he accumulated the materials which, during his literary life (1815-59), he embodied in numerous books. Of these the more important are--'The Topography of Athens' (1821); 'Journal of a Tour in Asia Minor' (1824); 'An Historical Outline of the Greek Revolution' (1825); 'Travels in the Morea' (1830); 'Travels in Northern Greece' (1835); 'Numismata Hellenica' (1854-59). As a diplomatist he was remarkably successful; but his reputation mainly rests on his topographical works. With his antiquarian labours Byron would have had little sympathy; but Leake was also a warm-hearted advocate of the Christian population of Greece against their Turkish rulers.]

[Footnote 6: The battle of Actium (B.C. 31) was fought at the entrance of the Gulf of Arta, and Nicopolis, the city of victory, the 'Palaio-Kastro' of the modern Greek, was founded by Augustus on an isthmus connecting Prevesa with the mainland to commemorate his triumph. Leake ('Travels in Northern Greece', vol. i. p. 175) identifies Actium with Punda ([Greek (transliterated: aktae], "the head of a promontory") on the headland opposite Prevesa (see 'Childe Harold', Canto II. stanza xlv.).]

[Footnote 7: "Upon Parnassus going to the fountain of Delphi (Castri) in 1809," writes Byron, in his 'Diary' for 1821 ('Life', pp. 99, 100),

"I saw a flight of twelve eagles (H. says they were vultures--at least
in conversation), and I seized the omen. On the day before I composed
the lines to Parnassus (in 'Childe Harold'), and, on beholding the
birds, had a hope that Apollo had accepted my homage. I have at least
had the name and fame of a poet during the poetical part of life (from
twenty to thirty);--whether it will 'last' is another matter."

(For the lines to Parnassus, see 'Childe Harold', Canto I. stanzas lx.-lxii.) To this journey belongs another incident, recorded by Byron.

"The last bird I ever fired at was an eaglet, on the shore of
the Gulf of Lepanto, near Vostizza. It was only wounded, and I tried
to save it,--the eye was so bright. But it pined, and died in a few
days; and I never did since, and never will, attempt the death of
another bird."]

[Footnote 8: Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander John Ball (1757-1809), who belonged to a Gloucestershire family, entered the navy, inspired by 'Robinson Crusoe'. A lieutenant in 1778, he distinguished himself with Rodney in 1782 (post-captain, 1783; rear-admiral, 1805), and at the battle of the Nile, when he commanded the 'Alexander'. Nelson had no liking for Ball until the latter saved the dismasted 'Vanguard' from going on shore by taking her in tow. Henceforward they were friends, and Nelson spoke of him as one of his "three right arms." By his skill in blockading Valetta (1798-1800), Ball was the hero of the siege of Malta, and (June 6, 1801) was created a baronet for his services, and received the Order of Merit from Ferdinand IV of Naples. When Byron met him, Ball was "His Majesty's Civil Commissioner for the Island of Malta and its Dependencies, and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Order of St. John." S.T. Coleridge, who was with him as secretary from May, 1804, to October, 1805, wrote enthusiastically of him in his letters, and in 'The Friend' (3rd edit., vol. i. essay i., and vol. iii. pp. 226-301). But his picture of the admiral would have been more definite had he remembered the spirit of the remark (quoted in 'The Friend') which Ball once made to him:

"The distinction is just, and, now I understand you, abundantly
obvious; but hardly worth the trouble of your inventing a puzzle of
words to make it appear otherwise."]

[Footnote 9: Hussein Bey, then a boy of ten years old, son of Mouctar Pasha, the eldest son of Ali, in after years (1820-22) remained faithful to his grandfather, when his father, uncles, and cousin had gone over to the Sultan, and held Tepeleni for Ali in his last struggle against the Turks. Mahomet Pasha, son of Veli Pasha, second son of Ali, though only twelve years old, was already in possession of a pashalik. In Ali's contest with Turkey, he betrayed Parga to the Sultan, and persuaded his father to surrender Prevesa. He was, however, rewarded for his treachery by execution, and is among the five members of his family who lie buried at the Silivria Gate at Constantinople (Walsh's 'Narrative', p. 67).]

132.--To his Mother.

Smyrna, March 19, 1810.

DEAR MOTHER,--I cannot write you a long letter; but as I know you will
not be sorry to receive any intelligence of my movements, pray accept
what I can give. I have traversed the greatest part of Greece, besides
Epirus, etc., etc., resided ten weeks at Athens, and am now on the
Asiatic side on my way to Constantinople. I have just returned from
viewing the ruins of Ephesus, a day's journey from Smyrna. [1] I
presume you have received a long letter I wrote from Albania, with an
account of my reception by the Pacha of the Province.

When I arrive at Constantinople, I shall determine whether to proceed
into Persia or return, which latter I do not wish, if I can avoid it.
But I have no intelligence from Mr. Hanson, and but one letter from
yourself. I shall stand in need of remittances whether I proceed or
return. I have written to him repeatedly, that he may not plead
ignorance of my situation for neglect. I can give you no account of
any thing, for I have not time or opportunity, the frigate sailing
immediately. Indeed the further I go the more my laziness increases,
and my aversion to letter-writing becomes more confirmed. I have
written to no one but to yourself and Mr. Hanson, and these are
communications of business and duty rather than of inclination.

Fletcher is very much disgusted with his fatigues, though he has
undergone nothing that I have not shared. He is a poor creature;
indeed English servants are detestable travellers. I have, besides
him, two Albanian soldiers and a Greek interpreter; all excellent in
their way. Greece, particularly in the vicinity of Athens, is
delightful;--cloudless skies and lovely landscapes. But I must reserve
all account of my adventures till we meet. I keep no journal, but my
friend Hobhouse scribbles incessantly. Pray take care of Murray and
Robert, and tell the boy it is the most fortunate thing for him that
he did not accompany me to Turkey. Consider this as merely a notice of
my safety, and believe me,

Yours, etc., etc.,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: It was at Smyrna that the two first cantos of 'Childe Harold' were completed. To his original MS. of the poem is prefixed the following memorandum:--

"Byron, Ioannina in Albania.
Begun October 31st, 1809;
Concluded Canto 2d, Smyrna,
March 28th, 1810.

--BYRON."]

133.--To his Mother.

Smyrna, April 9, 1810.

Dear Mother,--I know you will be glad to hear from me: I wish I could
say I am equally delighted to write. However, there is no great loss
in my scribbles, except to the portmanteau-makers, who, I suppose,
will get all by and by.

Nobody but yourself asks me about my creed,--what I am, am not, etc.,
etc. If I were to begin _explaining_, God knows where I should leave
off; so we will say no more about that, if you please.

I am no "good soul," and not an atheist, but an English gentleman, I
hope, who loves his mother, mankind, and his country. I have not time
to write more at present, and beg you to believe me,

Ever yours, etc.,

BYRON.

P.S.-Are the Miss----anxiously expecting my arrival and
contributions to their gossip and _rhymes_, which are about as bad as
they can be?

B.

134.--To his Mother.

Smyrna, April 10, 1810.

Dear Mother,--To-morrow, or this evening, I sail for Constantinople in
the 'Salsette' frigate, of thirty-six guns. She returns to England
with our ambassador, [1] whom she is going up on purpose to receive. I
have written to you short letters from Athens, Smyrna, and a long one
from Albania. I have not yet mustered courage for a second large
epistle, and you must not be angry, since I take all opportunities of
apprizing you of my safety; but even that is an effort, writing is so
irksome.

I have been traversing Greece, and Epirus, Illyria, etc., etc., and
you see by my date, have got into Asia. I have made but one excursion
lately to the ruins of Ephesus. Malta is the rendez-vous of my
letters, so address to that island. Mr. Hanson has not written, though
I wished to hear of the Norfolk sale, [2] the Lancashire law-suit,
etc., etc., I am anxiously expecting fresh remittances. I believe you
will like Nottinghamshire, at least my share of it. [3] Pray accept my
good wishes in lieu of a long letter, and believe me,

Yours sincerely and affectionately,

BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Robert (afterwards the Right Hon. Sir Robert) Adair (1763-1855), son of Sergeant-Surgeon Adair and Lady Caroline Keppel, described by an Austrian aristocrat as "le fils du plus grand 'Seigneur' d'Angleterre," was educated at Westminster and the University of Gottingen." At the latter place Adair, always, as his kinsman Lord Albemarle said of him, "an enthusiastic admirer of the fair sex" ('Recollections', vol. i. p. 229), fell in love with his tutor's daughter. He did not, however, marry "Sweet Matilda Pottingen," but Angélique Gabrielle, daughter of the Marquis d'Hazincourt. He is supposed to have contributed to the 'Rolliad'; and the "Dedication to Sir Lloyd Kenyon," "Margaret Nicholson" ('Political Eclogues', p. 207), and the "Song of Scrutina" ('Probationary Odes', p. 285), have been attributed to him. He, however, denied (Moore's 'Journal and Correspondence', vol. ii. p. 304) that he wrote any part of the 'Rolliad'. A Whig, and an intimate friend and follower of Fox, he was in 1791 at St. Petersburg, where the Tories believed that he had been sent by his chief on "half a mission" to intrigue with Russia against Pitt. The charge was published by Dr. Pretyman, Bishop of Winchester, in his 'Life of Pitt' (1821), who may have wished to pay off old scores, and to retaliate on one of the reputed authors of the 'Rolliad' for the "Pretymaniana," and was answered in 'Two Letters from Mr. Adair to the Bishop of Winchester'. It is to this accusation that Ellis and Frere, in the 'Anti-Jacobin', refer in "A Bit of an Ode to Mr. Fox" ('Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin', edit. 1854, pp. 71-73):--

"I mount, I mount into the sky,
Sweet bird, to 'Petersburg' I'll fly,
Or, if you bid, to 'Paris'.
Fresh missions of the 'Fox' and 'Goose'
Successful 'Treaties' may produce,
Though Pitt in all miscarries."

Sir James Mackintosh, speaking of the story, told Moore ('Journals and Correspondence', vol. iv. p. 267) that a private letter from Adair, reporting his conversations with a high official in St. Petersburg, fell into the hands of the British Government; that some members of the Council were desirous of taking proceedings upon it; but that Lord Grenville and Pitt threatened to resign, if any use was made of such a document so obtained. (See also the "Translation of a Letter from Bawba-Dara-Adul-Phoola," etc.--'i.e.' "Bob Adair, a dull fool"--in the 'Anti-Jacobin', p. 208.) Adair was in 1806 sent by Fox as Ambassador to Vienna, and in 1809 was appointed by Canning Ambassador Extraordinary at Constantinople, where, with Stratford Canning as his secretary, he negotiated the Treaty of the Dardanelles. For his services, on his return in 1810, he was made a K.C.B. He was subsequently (1831-35) employed on a mission to the Low Countries, when war appeared imminent between William, Prince of Orange and King Leopold. He was afterwards sworn a member of the Privy Council, and received a pension. George Ticknor ('Life', vol. i. p. 269), who met him at Woburn in 1819, speaks of his great conversational charms, and Moore ('Journals and Correspondence', vol. vii. p. 216) describes him, in 1838, as a man "from whom one gets, now and then, an agreeable whiff of the days of Fox, Tickell, and Sheridan." Many years after Fox's death, Adair was at a fête at Chiswick House. "'In which room,' he asked of Samuel Rogers, 'did Fox expire?' 'In this very room,' I replied. Immediately, Adair burst into tears with a vehemence of grief such as I hardly ever saw exhibited by a man" ('Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers', p. 97).]

[Footnote 2: The sale of Wymondham and other property in Norfolk, which had come to him through his great-uncle.]

[Footnote 3: Probably an allusion to his mother leaving Burgage Manor and taking up her residence at Newstead.]

135.--To his Mother.

_Salsette Frigate, off the Dardanelles_, April 17, 1810.

Dear Madam,--I write at anchor (on our way to Constantinople) off the
Troad, which I traversed ten days ago. All the remains of Troy are the
tombs of her destroyers, amongst which I saw that of Antilochus from my
cabin window. These are large mounds of earth, like the barrows of the
Danes in your island. There are several monuments, about twelve miles
distant, of the Alexandrian Troas, which I also examined, but by no
means to be compared with the remnants of Athens and Ephesus. This will
be sent in a ship of war, bound with despatches for Malta. In a few days
we shall be at Constantinople, barring accidents. I have also written
from Smyrna, and shall, from time to time, transmit short accounts of my
movements, but I feel totally unequal to long letters.

Believe me, yours very sincerely,

BYRON.

P.S.--No accounts from Hanson!!! Do not complain of short letters; I
write to nobody but yourself and Mr. H.

136.--To Henry Drury.

_Salsette_ frigate, May 3, 1810.

My Dear Drury,--When I left England, nearly a year ago, you requested
me to write to you--I will do so. I have crossed Portugal, traversed
the south of Spain, visited Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, and thence passed
into Turkey, where I am still wandering. I first landed in Albania,
the ancient Epirus, where we penetrated as far as Mount Tomarit--
excellently treated by the chief Ali Pacha,--and, after journeying
through Illyria, Chaonia, etc., crossed the Gulf of Actium, with a
guard of fifty Albanians, and passed the Achelous in our route through
Acarnania and Ætolia. We stopped a short time in the Morea, crossed
the Gulf of Lepanto, and landed at the foot of Parnassus;--saw all
that Delphi retains, and so on to Thebes and Athens, at which last we
remained ten weeks.

His Majesty's ship, _Pylades_, brought us to Smyrna; but not before we
had topographised Attica, including, of course, Marathon and the
Sunian promontory. From Smyrna to the Troad (which we visited when at
anchor, for a fortnight, off the tomb of Antilochus) was our next
stage; and now we are in the Dardanelles, waiting for a wind to
proceed to Constantinople.

This morning I _swam_ from _Sestos_ to _Abydos_. [1] The immediate
distance is not above a mile, but the current renders it
hazardous;--so much so that I doubt whether Leander's conjugal
affection must not have been a little chilled in his passage to
Paradise. I attempted it a week ago, and failed,--owing to the north
wind, and the wonderful rapidity of the tide,--though I have been from
my childhood a strong swimmer. But, this morning being calmer, I
succeeded, and crossed the "broad Hellespont" in an hour and ten
minutes.

Well, my dear sir, I have left my home, and seen part of Africa and
Asia, and a tolerable portion of Europe. I have been with generals and
admirals, princes and pashas, governors and ungovernables,--but I have
not time or paper to expatiate. I wish to let you know that I live
with a friendly remembrance of you, and a hope to meet you again; and
if I do this as shortly as possible, attribute it to any thing but
forgetfulness.

Greece, ancient and modern, you know too well to require description.
Albania, indeed, I have seen more of than any Englishman (except a Mr.
Leake), for it is a country rarely visited, from the savage character
of the natives, though abounding in more natural beauties than the
classical regions of Greece,--which, however, are still eminently
beautiful, particularly Delphi and Cape Colonna in Attica. Yet these
are nothing to parts of Illyria and Epirus, where places without a
name, and rivers not laid down in maps, may, one day, when more known,
be justly esteemed superior subjects, for the pencil and the pen, to
the dry ditch of the Ilissus and the bogs of Boeotia.

The Troad is a fine field for conjecture and snipe-shooting, and a
good sportsman and an ingenious scholar may exercise their feet and
faculties to great advantage upon the spot;--or, if they prefer
riding, lose their way (as I did) in a cursed quagmire of the
Scamander, who wriggles about as if the Dardan virgins still offered
their wonted tribute. The only vestige of Troy, or her destroyers, are
the barrows supposed to contain the carcasses of Achilles, Antilochus,
Ajax, etc.;--but Mount Ida is still in high feather, though the
shepherds are now-a-days not much like Ganymede. But why should I say
more of these things? are they not written in the _Boke_ of _Gell_?
[2] and has not Hobhouse got a journal? I keep none, as I have
renounced scribbling.

I see not much difference between ourselves and the Turks, save that
we have----and they have none--that they have long dresses, and we
short, and that we talk much, and they little. They are sensible
people. Ali Pacha told me he was sure I was a man of rank, because I
had _small ears_ and _hands_, and _curling hair_. By the by, I speak
the Romaic, or modern Greek, tolerably. It does not differ from the
ancient dialects so much as you would conceive; but the pronunciation
is diametrically opposite. Of verse, except in rhyme, they have no
idea.

I like the Greeks, who are plausible rascals,--with all the Turkish
vices, without their courage. However, some are brave, and all are
beautiful, very much resembling the busts of Alcibiades;--the women
not quite so handsome. I can swear in Turkish; but, except one
horrible oath, and "pimp," and "bread," and "water," I have got no
great vocabulary in that language. They are extremely polite to
strangers of any rank, properly protected; and as I have two servants
and two soldiers, we get on with great éclat. We have been
occasionally in danger of thieves, and once of shipwreck,--but always
escaped.

Of Spain I sent some account to our Hodgson, but have subsequently
written to no one, save notes to relations and lawyers, to keep them
out of my premises. I mean to give up all connection, on my return,
with many of my best friends--as I supposed them-and to snarl all my
life. But I hope to have one good-humoured laugh with you, and to
embrace Dwyer, and pledge Hodgson, before I commence cynicism.

Tell Dr. Butler I am now writing with the gold pen he gave me before I
left England, which is the reason my scrawl is more unintelligible
than usual. I have been at Athens, and seen plenty of these reeds for
scribbling, some of which he refused to bestow upon me, because
topographic Gell had brought them from Attica. But I will not
describe,--no--you must be satisfied with simple detail till my
return, and then we will unfold the floodgates of colloquy. I am in a
thirty-six gun frigate, going up to fetch Bob Adair from
Constantinople, who will have the honour to carry this letter.

And so Hobhouse's _boke_ is out, [3] with some sentimental sing-song
of my own to fill up,--and how does it take, eh? and where the devil
is the second edition of my Satire, with additions? and my name on the
title page? and more lines tagged to the end, with a new exordium and
what not, hot from my anvil before I cleared the Channel? The
Mediterranean and the Atlantic roll between me and criticism; and the
thunders of the Hyperborean Review are deafened by the roar of the
Hellespont.

Remember me to Claridge, [4] if not translated to college, and present
to Hodgson assurances of my high consideration. Now, you will ask,
what shall I do next? and I answer, I do not know. I may return in a
few months, but I have intents and projects after visiting
Constantinople. Hobhouse, however, will probably be back in September.

On the 2d of July we have left Albion one year--_oblitus meorum
obliviscendus et illis_. I was sick of my own country, and not much
prepossessed in favour of any other; but I "drag on my chain" without
"lengthening it at each remove." [5] I am like the Jolly Miller,
caring for nobody, and not cared for. [6] All countries are much the
same in my eyes. I smoke, and stare at mountains, and twirl my
mustachios very independently. I miss no comforts, and the musquitoes
that rack the morbid frame of H. have, luckily for me, little effect
on mine, because I live more temperately.

I omitted Ephesus in my catalogue, which I visited during my sojourn
at Smyrna; but the Temple has almost perished, and St. Paul need not
trouble himself to epistolise the present brood of Ephesians, who have
converted a large church built entirely of marble into a mosque, and I
don't know that the edifice looks the worse for it.

My paper is full, and my ink ebbing--good afternoon! If you address to
me at Malta, the letter will be forwarded wherever I may be. H. greets
you; he pines for his poetry,--at least, some tidings of it. I almost
forgot to tell you that I am dying for love of three Greek girls at
Athens, sisters. I lived in the same house. Teresa, Mariana, and
Katinka, [7] are the names of these divinities,--all of them under
fifteen.

Your [Greek (transliterated): tapeinotatos doulos], BYRON.

[Footnote 1: Byron made two attempts to swim across the Hellespont from Abydos to Sestos. The first, April 16, failed; the second, May 3, in warmer weather, succeeded.

"Byron was one hour and ten minutes in the water; his companion, Mr.
Ekenhead, five minutes less ... My fellow-traveller had before made a
more perilous, but less celebrated, passage; for I recollect that,
when we were in Portugal, he swam from Old Lisbon to Belem Castle,
and, having to contend with a tide and counter-current, the wind
blowing freshly, was but little less than two hours in crossing the
river"

(Hobhouse, 'Travels in Albania', etc., vol. ii. p. 195). In Hobhouse's journal, Byron made the following note:

"The whole distance E. and myself swam was more than four miles--the
current very strong and cold--some large fish near us when half
across--we were not fatigued, but a little chilled--did it with little
difficulty.--May 26, 1810. BYRON."

Of his feat Byron was always proud. See the "Lines Written after Swimming from Sestos to Abydos" ("by the by, from Abydos to Sestos would have been more correct"), and 'Don Juan', Canto II. stanza cv.:--

"A better swimmer you could scarce see ever;
He could, perhaps, have pass'd the Hellespont,
As once (a feat on which ourselves we prided)
Leander, Mr. Ekenhead, and I did."

In a note to the "Lines Written after Swimming from Sestos to Abydos," Byron writes,

"Chevalier says that a young Jew swam the same distance for his
mistress; and Oliver mentions its having been done by a Neapolitan;
but our consul, Tarragona, remembered neither of these circumstances,
and tried to dissuade us from the attempt. A number of the
'Salsette''s crew were known to have accomplished a greater distance;
and the only thing that surprised me was that, as doubts had been
entertained of the truth of Leander's story, no traveller had ever
endeavoured to ascertain its practicability."

Lieutenant Ekenhead, of the Marines, was afterwards killed by a fall from the fortifications of Malta.]

[Footnote 2: Sir William Gell (1777-1836) published the 'Topography of Troy' (1804); 'Geography and Antiquities of Ithaca' (1807); the 'Itinerary of Greece' (1810); and many other subsequent works. (For Byron's review of 'Ithaca' and 'Greece', in the 'Monthly Review' for August, 1811, see Appendix III.) In the MS. of 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers' (line 1034) he called him "coxcomb Gell;" but, having made his personal acquaintance before the Satire was printed, he changed the epithet to "classic." After seeing the country himself, he again altered the epithet--

"Of Dardan tours let Dilettanti tell,
I leave topography to rapid Gell."

To these lines is appended the following note:

"'Rapid,' indeed! He topographised and typographised King Priam's
dominions in three days! I called him 'classic' before I saw the
Troad, but since have learned better than to tack to his name what
don't belong to it."

To this passage Byron, in 1816, added the further expression of his opinion, that "Gell's survey was hasty and superficial." One of two suppressed stanzas in 'Childe Harold' (Canto II. stanza xiii.) refers to Gell and his works:--

"Or will the gentle Dilettanti crew
Now delegate the task to digging Gell?
That mighty limner of a bird's-eye view,
How like to Nature let his volumes tell;
Who can with him the folio's limits swell
With all the Author saw, or said he saw?
Who can topographise or delve so well?
No boaster he, nor impudent and raw,
His pencil, pen, and shade, alike without a flaw."]

[Footnote 3: 'Imitations and Translations from the Ancient and Modern Classics, etc.' (London, 1809, 8vo). Of the sixty-five pieces, nine were by Byron (see 'Poems', vol. i., Bibliographical note; and vol. vi., Bibliographical note). The second and enlarged edition of 'English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', with Byron's name attached, appeared in October, 1809.]

[Footnote 4: Two boys of this name, sons of J. Claridge, of Sevenoaks, entered Harrow School in April, 1805. George became a. solicitor, and died at Sevenoaks in 1841; John (afterwards Sir John) went to Christ Church, Oxford, became a barrister, and died in 1868. John Claridge seems to have been one of Byron's "juniors and favourites," whom he "spoilt by indulgence."]

[Footnote 5:

"Still to my brother turns with ceaseless pain,
And drags at each remove a lengthening chain."

GOLDSMITH'S Traveller, lines 9, 10.]

[Footnote 6: The allusion is to the familiar lines inserted by Isaac Bickerstaffe in 'Love in a Village' (1762), act i. sc. 3--

"There was a jolly miller once,
Liv'd on the river Dee;
He work'd and sung from morn till night;
No lark more blithe than he.

"And this the burden of his song,
For ever us'd to be--
I care for nobody, not I,
If no one cares for me."]

[Footnote 7:

"During our stay at Athens," writes Hobhouse ('Travels in Albania,
etc.', vol. i. pp. 242, 243), "we occupied two houses separated from
each other only by a single wall, through which we opened a doorway.
One of them belongs to a Greek lady, whose name is Theodora Macri, the
daughter of the late English Vice-Consul, and who has to show many
letters of recommendation left in her hands by several English
travellers. Her lodgings consisted of a sitting-room and two bedrooms,
opening into a court-yard where there were five or six lemon-trees,
from which, during our residence in the place, was plucked the fruit
that seasoned the pilaf and other national dishes served up at our
frugal table."

The beauty of the Greek women is transient. Hughes ('Travels in Sicily, etc.', vol. i. p. 254, published in 1820) speaks of the three daughters of Madame Macri as "the 'belles' of Athens." Of Theresa, the eldest, he says that "her countenance was extremely interesting, and her eye retained much of its wonted brilliancy; but the roses had already deserted the cheek, and we observed the remains only of that loveliness which elicited such strains from an impassioned poet." Walsh, in his 'Narrative of a Resident in Constantinople' (vol. i. p. 122), speaks of Theresa Macri, the "Maid of Athens," whom he saw in 1821, as "still very elegant in her person, and gentle and ladylike in her manners," but adds that "she has lost all pretensions to beauty, and has a countenance singularly marked by hopeless sadness." On the other hand, Williams, in his 'Travels in Italy, etc.' (vol. ii. pp. 290, 291), speaks, in 1820, with an artist's enthusiasm, of the beauty of the three daughters of Theodora Macri. He quotes from the "Visitors' Book," to which Hobhouse alludes, four lines written by Byron in answer to an anonymous versifier--

"This modest bard, like many a bard unknown,
Rhymes on our names, but wisely hides his own;
But yet, whoe'er he be, to say no worse,
His name would bring more credit than his verse."

Theresa and Mariana Macri were dark; Katinka was fair. The latter name Byron uses as that of the fair Georgian in 'Don Juan' (Canto VI. stanza xli.).

"It was," says Moore, "if I recollect right, in making love to one of
these girls that he had recourse to an act of courtship often
practised in that country;--namely, giving himself a wound across the
breast with his dagger. The young Athenian, by his own account, looked
on very coolly during the operation, considering it a fit tribute to
her beauty, but in no degree moved to gratitude."

Theresa, sometimes called Thyrza, Macri married an Englishman named Black, employed in H.M.'s Consular service at Missolonghi. She survived her husband, and fell into great poverty. Finlay, the historian of Greece, made an appeal on her behalf, which obtained the support of the leading members of Athenian society, including M. Charilaus Tricoupi, for some time Prime Minister at Athens, the son of Spiridion Tricoupi--Byron's intimate friend. In the 'New York Times' for October 22, 1875, Mr. Anthony Martelaus, United States Consular Agent at Athens, describes Mrs. Black, whom he visited in August, 1875, as "a tall old lady, with features inspiring reverence, and showing that at a time past she was a beautiful woman." Theresa Black died October 15, 1875, aged 80 years. (See letters to the 'Times', October 25 and October 27, 1875, by Richard Edgcumbe and Neocles Mussabini respectively.)]

137.--To Francis Hodgson.

'Salsette' frigate, in the Dardanelles, off Abydos, May 5, 1810.

I am on my way to Constantinople, after a tour through Greece, Epirus,
etc., and part of Asia Minor, some particulars of which I have just
communicated to our friend and host, H. Drury. With these, then, I shall
not trouble you; but as you will perhaps be pleased to hear that I am
well, etc., I take the opportunity of our ambassador's return to forward
the few lines I have time to despatch. We have undergone some
inconveniences, and incurred partial perils, but no events worthy of
communication, unless you will deem it one that two days ago I swam from
Sestos to Abydos. This, with a few alarms from robbers, and some danger
of shipwreck in a Turkish galliot six months ago, a visit to a Pacha, a
passion for a married woman at Malta, [1] a challenge to an officer, an
attachment to three Greek girls at Athens, with a great deal of
buffoonery and fine prospects, form all that has distinguished my
progress since my departure from Spain.

Hobhouse rhymes and journalises; I stare and do nothing--unless smoking
can be deemed an active amusement. The Turks take too much care of their
women to permit them to be scrutinised; but I have lived a good deal
with the Greeks, whose modern dialect I can converse in enough for my
purposes. With the Turks I have also some male acquaintances--female
society is out of the question. I have been very well treated by the
Pachas and Governors, and have no complaint to make of any kind.
Hobhouse will one day inform you of all our adventures--were I to
attempt the recital, neither _my_ paper nor _your_ patience would hold
out during the operation.

Nobody, save yourself, has written to me since I left England; but
indeed I did not request it. I except my relations, who write quite as
often as I wish. Of Hobhouse's volume I know nothing, except that it is
out; and of my second edition I do not even know _that_, and certainly
do not, at this distance, interest myself in the matter. I hope you and
Bland [2] roll down the stream of sale with rapidity.

Of my return I cannot positively speak, but think it probable Hobhouse
will precede me in that respect. We have been very nearly one year
abroad. I should wish to gaze away another, at least, in these evergreen
climates; but I fear business, law business, the worst of employments,
will recall me previous to that period, if not very quickly. If so, you
shall have due notice.

I hope you will find me an altered personage,--I do not mean in body,
but in manner, for I begin to find out that nothing but virtue will do
in this damned world. I am tolerably sick of vice, which I have tried in
its agreeable varieties, and mean, on my return, to cut all my dissolute
acquaintance, leave off wine and carnal company, and betake myself to
politics and decorum. I am very serious and cynical, and a good deal
disposed to moralise; but fortunately for you the coming homily is cut
off by default of pen and defection of paper.

Good morrow! If you write, address to me at Malta, whence your letters
will be forwarded. You need not remember me to any body, but believe me,

Yours with all faith,

BYRON.

Constantinople, May 15, 1810.

P.S.--My dear H.,--The date of my postscript "will prate to you of my
whereabouts." We anchored between the Seven Towers and the Seraglio on
the 13th, and yesterday settled ashore. [3] The ambassador [4] is laid
up; but the secretary [5] does the honours of the palace, and we have a
general invitation to his palace. In a short time he has his leave of
audience, and we accompany him in our uniforms to the Sultan, etc., and
in a few days I am to visit the Captain Pacha with the commander of our
frigate. [6] I have seen enough of their Pashas already; but I wish to
have a view of the Sultan, the last of the Ottoman race.

Of Constantinople you have Gibbon's description, very correct as far
as I have seen. The mosques I shall have a firman to visit. I shall
most probably ('Deo volente'), after a full inspection of Stamboul,
bend my course homewards; but this is uncertain. I have seen the most
interesting parts, particularly Albania, where few Franks have ever
been, and all the most celebrated ruins of Greece and Ionia.

Of England I know nothing, hear nothing, and can find no person better
informed on the subject than myself. I this moment drink your health in
a bumper of hock; Hobhouse fills and empties to the same; do you and
Drury pledge us in a pint of any liquid you please--vinegar will bear
the nearest resemblance to that which I have just swallowed to your
name; but when we meet again the draught shall be mended and the wine
also.

Yours ever,

B.

[Footnote 1: Mrs. Spencer Smith (see page 244 [Letter 130], [Foot]note 1 [2]).

"In the mean time," writes Galt, who was at Malta with him, "besides
his "Platonic dalliance with Mrs. Spencer Smith, Byron had involved
himself in a quarrel with an officer; but it was satisfactorily
settled"

('Life of Byron', p. 67).]

[Footnote 2: The Rev. Robert Bland (1780-1825), the son of a well-known London doctor, educated at Harrow and Pembroke College, Cambridge, was an assistant-master at Harrow when Byron was a schoolboy. There he became one of a "social club or circle," to which belonged J. Herman Merivale, Hodgson, Henry Drury, Denman (afterwards Lord Chief Justice), Charles Pepys (afterwards Lord Chancellor), Launcelot Shadwell (afterwards Vice-Chancellor), Walford (afterwards Solicitor to the Customs), and Paley, a son of the archdeacon. A good singer, an amusing companion, and a clever, impulsive, eccentric creature, he was nicknamed by his friends "Don Hyperbolo" for his humorous extravagances. Some of his letters, together with a sketch of his life, are given in the 'Life of the Rev. Francis Hodgson', vol. i. pp. 226-250. In the 'Monthly Magazine' for March, 1805, he and Merivale began to publish a series of translations from the Greek minor poets and epigrammatists, which were afterwards collected, with additions by Denman, Hodgson, Drury, and others, and published (1806) under the title of 'Translations, chiefly from the Greek Anthology, with Tales and Miscellaneous Poems'. Bland and Merivale (1779-1844) are addressed by Byron ('English Bards, and Scotch Reviewers', lines 881-890) as "associate bards," and adjured to "resign Achaia's lyre, and strike your own." The two friends also collaborated in the 'Collections from the Greek Anthology' (1813), and 'A Collection of the most Beautiful Poems of the Minor Poets of Greece' (1813). Bland also published two volumes of original verse: 'Edwy and Elgiva' (1808), and 'The Four Slaves of Cythera, a Poetical Romance' (1809). Several generations of schoolboys have learned to write Latin verse from his 'Elements of Latin Hexameters and Pentameters'. A lover of France, and of the French nation and of French acting, he spoke the language like a native, travelled in disguise over the countries occupied by Napoleon's armies, and (1813) published, in collaboration with Miss Plumptre, a translation of the 'Memoirs' of Baron Grimm and Diderot. He was appointed Chaplain at Amsterdam, whence he returned in 1811. (For the circumstances of his quarrel with Hodgson, see page 195 [Letter 102], [Foot]note 1.) He was successively Curate of Prittlewell and Kenilworth. At the latter place, where he eked out a scanty income by taking pupils, he died in 1825 from breaking a blood-vessel.]

[Footnote 3: Byron and Hobhouse landed on May 14, and rode to their inn.

"This," says Hobhouse ('Travels in Albania, etc.', vol. ii pp. 216,
217), "was situated at the corner of the main street of Pera, here
four ways meet, all of which were not less mean and dirty than the
lanes of Wapping. The hotel, however (kept by a Mons. Marchand), was a
very comfortable mansion, containing many chambers handsomely
furnished, and a large billiard-room, which is the resort of all the
idle young men of the place. Our dinners there were better served, and
composed of meats more to the English taste, than we had seen at any
tavern since our departure from Falmouth; and the butter of Belgrade
(perfectly fresh, though not of a proper consistency) was a delicacy
to which we had long been unaccustomed. The best London porter, and
nearly every species of wine, except port, were also to be procured in
any quantity. To this eulogy cannot be added the material
recommendation of cheapness."]

[Footnote 4: Robert Adair. (See page 260 [Letter 134], [Foot]note 1.)]

[Footnote 5: Stratford Canning, afterwards Lord Stratford de Redcliffe.]